Why are healthy employees good for your business productivity?

28 March 2017 - 9:20am

Any business owner worth their salt will know that their employee's health and productivity plays a massive role in ensuring success. Unproductive employees work slower, produce less and cost the business more, hurting your bottom line.

How can you make sure your employees are healthy, and should you offer corporate health insurance? What are the quantifiable benefits of productive, healthy employees?

Higher engagement

There's no doubt that healthy, productive employees are more engaged in their work. In fact, a Comcare report found that when employee health and wellness is managed well, the percentage of engaged employees increases from 7 per cent to 55 per cent.

What are the benefits of having healthy productive employees?

Another study, by Cornell University, found that unhealthy employees are twice as likely to have a low intention to stay with the same employer, and seven times more likely to have low job performance.

When employees are healthier and happier, they're far more likely to engage in their work. Better engagement means higher levels of employee productivity, lower staff turnover, and a more positive workplace - all of which should be strived for by employees Australia-wide.

Better productivity

Unhealthy employees are effective at work for 49 hours a month, whereas healthy employees were effective for almost 150 hours.

Most employees aren't really working for every hour that they're present. In fact, a Medibank Private study found that unhealthy employees are effective at work for 49 hours a month, whereas healthy employees are effective for almost 150 hours.

That's not all - the same study also found that unhealthy employees had up to nine times the sick leave of their healthier colleagues. Considering the fact that absenteeism is estimated to cost the Australian economy over $32 billion a year, that's a significant statistic.

The benefits of physically healthy employees are well known to most. However, employers often underestimate the importance of the mental health of their employees, to their detriment. A PwC report found that mental health issues cost the Australian economy $11 billion a year, $6 billion of which is due to presenteeism.

Reducing this cost to your business all starts by prioritising your employees' health and wellbeing. Offering corporate health insurance could be the first step to realising the full benefits of healthy employees, and increasing the effectiveness and productivity of your business.

Get in touch with HICA today to find out more about how we can help ensure your employees are as healthy and productive as possible.